Chip shuffling during tournament play

I've been playing in a blackjack tournament at my local NA casino. I'm just getting to the point where I understand basic tournament strategy and bet sizing, but I'm starting to get frustrated by players who constantly shuffle their chips (so I can't see how many they have). I believe the rules (if not courtesy) dictate that your chips must be visible to other players.

Most of the time I suspect they are just being fidgety / trying to look cool, so I can't get too upset. The atmosphere is really fun and good-natured, so I don't want to risk coming across as a jackass and ruining it... but they don't seem to catch on when I do the old lean-in-and-squint-directly-at-their-chips maneuver. Anyone know a polite (or better yet, funny) way to say "lemme see your chips!"?

Ask for a count. Simple as. No different to a poker game I guess

Quote: waltomeal

I've been playing in a blackjack tournament at my local NA casino. I'm just getting to the point where I understand basic tournament strategy and bet sizing, but I'm starting to get frustrated by players who constantly shuffle their chips (so I can't see how many they have). I believe the rules (if not courtesy) dictate that your chips must be visible to other players.

Most of the time I suspect they are just being fidgety / trying to look cool, so I can't get too upset. The atmosphere is really fun and good-natured, so I don't want to risk coming across as a jackass and ruining it... but they don't seem to catch on when I do the old lean-in-and-squint-directly-at-their-chips maneuver. Anyone know a polite (or better yet, funny) way to say "lemme see your chips!"?

Asking the dealer for a count is the best way and is done in poker tourneys all the time. No one minds.

Why would you want your opponent to give up thier "tell"?

I chip shuffle in every game I play that uses chips, and had no idea that others might find it annoying. How do others reading this feel about it?

Quote: Wizard

I chip shuffle in every game I play that uses chips, and had no idea that others might find it annoying. How do others reading this feel about it?

I actually kind of like it--it's part of the ambiance. When I walk into a busy poker room, that's often the first sensation I receive--the low-level sound of chips being shuffled, like a field full of crickets.

I can't imagine any kind of prohibition on chip-shuffling, since for many players, it's more of a subconscious action--you'd have to severely enforce any such prohibition, and doubtless antagonize many players in the process.

Quote: Wizard

I chip shuffle in every game I play that uses chips, and had no idea that others might find it annoying. How do others reading this feel about it?

At a casino I like it. When practicing at work my coworker yelled at me to stop as he said it was annoying to him.

It can be annoying, but it's part of the atmosphere.

Personally, I wish I could shuffle them better than I do, and wish I could do a variety of 'chip tricks'.

At a poker table, it can be intimidating, because only experienced players have mastered the trick.

I too enjoy the sound of chip-shuffling. The only "problem" is that, if I'm walking though a pit, I occasionally find myself thinking that the chip-shuffling sounds are the sounds of an active Pai Gow table. The soft clinking sounds of chips being shuffled sound very similar to Pai Gow tiles being stacked or clanked together.

I don't do it but I don't even hear it when others do it anymore. Try walking into the Rio during WSOP when there are >200 tables in play and tons of players shuffling chips....

I also shuffle at any game I am playing, I have never seen anyone appear to be annoyed, and the only comments I get are people asking me how I do it. Usually touristy types playing black jack at the same table as me.